Just wondered if anyone could recommend a weight training programme for martial artists.

In my case Muay Thai but would be interested in the broader discussion anyway.

I used to have a book on this by Geoff Thomson but lent it to someone and never got it back.

My main aim is to build power but also to strengthen muscle around the joints, shoulders etc. to prevent injury.

Also how to time it, I aim to train Muay Thai two - three times a week (1 and 1/2 hour class) or perhaps swap one of those sessions for a grappling art, and was looking at doing weights in between maybe twice a week.

Also nutrition, I get a lot of knocks and bruises so try to make sure I get a lot of green leafy veg, raw where possible and also supplement with Kelp tablets, any other tips?

Sounds like you're on the right track. I train martial arts 2 - 4 days a week, jogging a couple times a week, and weights 1 - 2 times a week. I like to make sure the day after the weights is my rest day. So my week usually looks something like this:

I've found that trying to work in more than one heavy session per week makes it difficult to keep training ma as much as I would like, and since I'm not trying to get huge (just trying to build general strength), once a week seems like plenty to me, and I've definitely been noticing results.

My method is to focus on 6 compound lifts for 5x5, adding weight the next session when I can do the full 25 reps. I do squat, flat bench press, dead lift, pull ups/lat pull down, arnold press, and machine leg press. If I have time/energy after those, I'll do a little bit of curls, tricep extentions, upright rows, etc (more isolation stuff).

But I encourage you to experiment and find what works for you. As for nutrition, just eat a lot of whole foods, drink tons of water, and get lots of sleep. Tea is better than coffee in the morning and I like to make myself eat a few pieces of fruit before the morning tea/coffee as if I don't I'll just skip breakfast. But there's no "trick" here other than eat your fruits and veggies, and eat a LOT of them.

Yes, this is a subject of concern for me as well. I have been training in Karate for a couple years and excelled in this speed and precision based art. I have recently started training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, were technique is primary but power is a close second. My trainer (Brazilians - they each eat like 4 cows a year ) says that he has rolled with vegetarians and they are not as strong!!! What do I do!!??? I wanna prove it to him that vegetarians can be as strong!! I have a lot of strength and muscle now, but I want to step it up so I can throw around those bigger girls and show my trainer what us veggies got!! Need to increase explosive power. Im good on the training, any nutrition advice is appreciated. Thanks!!!

Yes, this is a subject of concern for me as well. I have been training in Karate for a couple years and excelled in this speed and precision based art. I have recently started training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, were technique is primary but power is a close second. My trainer (Brazilians - they each eat like 4 cows a year ) says that he has rolled with vegetarians and they are not as strong!!! What do I do!!??? I wanna prove it to him that vegetarians can be as strong!! I have a lot of strength and muscle now, but I want to step it up so I can throw around those bigger girls and show my trainer what us veggies got!! Need to increase explosive power. Im good on the training, any nutrition advice is appreciated. Thanks!!!

In my opinion, there's not really any secret here... eat a lot of fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and tofu/tempeh. Throw in a protein smoothie if you feel you want extra protein (frozen berries, rice milk, hemp protein powder, flax oil in a blender). Make sure you're eating enough of these to provide plenty of energy and protein and you'll be supporting your training.

But building explosive power, for instance, is done with training not with nutrition (at least, again, as long as you're eating enough in the first place). Power lifting, kettlebells, medicine ball circuit training are all good at building explosive power and developing the fast-twitch muscles, rather than just the large muscles. I also would recommend doing regular yoga/pilates. You develop a very powerful kind of strength and balance from these practices that you don't get from traditional weights. The hardest guy to sweep I ever worked with wasn't the biggest, but was a pilates instructor.

Train harder, and just make sure you're eating enough real food to refuel.

I know this is an older post, but thought I could offer my two cents. I'm a vegan and I do bjj and no one has ever accused me of not being strong enough. As a matter of fact, I'm often told to not rely on my strength so much!

Personally, I don't think there is a huge crossover in attributes needed to excell at karate or bjj (that doesn't mean you can't do both). Bjj does rely more on power (after technique), especially important is the ability to be explosive when you need to be.

In terms of training, it goes without saying that specifity is key here: the more bjj you do, the better you will get. To build endurance, rolling often is the best. That being said, I know all too well that it's hard to make it class more than a couple times a week sometimes. So I would advise you to spend a couple days a week working heavy weights at low reps. If you're not used to heavy weights, try a good 5x5 program for a few months, before you decrease reps to 3 (at 75-80% max.). By priortizing maximal strength for a few months, you will see your explosive power improve. Of course, to really make gains you'll have to have a good periodization scheme which includes periods of strength/power/endurance building. I would strongly advise that if you do intend to do strength training that you limit your rolling to once or twice (max) a week to avoid overtraining. Yes, your endurance will suffer, but once you get to that period you can regain that pretty fast.

In terms of nutrition, I would try to make protein a big priority. You probably know all the good vegan sources already: lentils, beans, nuts, seeds, tofu. Eat alot of this stuff, aiming for about .8-1 gram of this per pound of lean mass. The thing is, theres no way, because of the fiber in these sources that you'll stomach this much, so I would include some vegan protein powders, preferably a mix of them. That way you won't feel over full all the time, but you can get closer to your needs (in practise, I never do thought, usually ten grams under).

Make sure you get lots of fat too. Include lots of nuts, but also lots of flax or chia. DHA is important for joint health, and is usually lacking in the vegan diet, so you may want to supplement (I like udo's dha blend myself). I also take borage oil, because the gla in that is supposed to help with inflamation.

Other than that, I do lots of yoga to keep my body from getting injured all the time. You could also try ginastica natural for that too. I also do grip work a lot, because its easy to do while im sitting around at home. And kettlebells are great for working endurance (but it sounds like you need to get your strength up first!).

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